Hetton-le-Hole
Encyclopedia
Hetton-le-Hole is a town and civil parish situated in the City of Sunderland
in Tyne and Wear
, England
. It is on the A182
between Houghton-le-Spring
and Easington Lane
. It is located on the southwest corner of Sunderland on the A182, off A690
close to the A1(M). It has a population of 14,402 but this includes the population of nearby village Easington Lane.
Liverpool F.C.
manager Bob Paisley
and Burnley F.C.
player and manager Harry Potts
were from Hetton-le-Hole, as was Ralph Coates
the former Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur player. The famous recording artist and record producer Trevor Horn
is also from Hetton-le-Hole. Former Sunderland and Newcastle
goalscorer Bryan "Pop" Robson was born in Hetton-le-Hole.
The civil parish includes Hetton proper, along with East Rainton
, Middle Rainton
(but not West Rainton
which is a separate parish), Low Moorsley
, High Moorsley
and Easington Lane
. South Hetton
constitutes a separate parish.
Great Eppleton Wind Farm
, a wind farm
of four dual bladed alternators, helped provide electricity
to the National Grid. The original wind turbines have been replaced by larger three bladed versions. The turbines are far enough away from local houses to not cause any audible disturbance.
words which were spelt together "Heppedune" or Bramble Hill. The name gave rise to a local landowning family, the le Hepdons who owned part of the Manor from the very earliest times. The ancient manor, which was bounded by that of Elemore, was divided into two parts known as Hetton-on-the-Hill and Hetton-in-the-Hole. This second and more sheltered part, was the vicinity in which the village ultimately arose. Records exist of the many holders of the manor right back to the 14th century. William de Hepdon held half the Manor by deed in 1363 and in 1380, William de Dalden held the other half. Even earlier charters go back to 1187 and make mention of the early village of Heppedune, its people, houses, crofts, ox-gangs and strips of land for the villagers in the three great fields around the settlement. In 1187 Bertram de Heppedune held the manor for the King and the other de Hepdons were his descendants.
Coal Mining has been carried on in the surround area since Roman
times. Coal was then obtained by drift mining
, but by the 14th century shafts were used. In 1819 the Hetton Coal Company was formed and the first shaft sinking began a year later. It was a highly controversial undertaking, with geologists doubtful as to whether coal of any value existed there. The Hetton Coal Company owners also decided to build a wagonway from their new Hetton colliery to the River Wear
at Sunderland. George Stephenson
was hired to build the 8-mile (13-km). The finished result used a combination of gravity down inclines and locomotives for level and upward stretches, and was the first railway to use no animal power at all. The methods he adopted were still used until 1959 as was some of the original machinery. These activities led to a rapid increase in the size of Hetton and over 200 houses for the miners were built at once. These have all but gone now, but twelve of these former mining cottages from Francis Street in Hetton Centre were re-erected stone by stone at Beamish Open Air Museum, Stanley
, near Chester-le-Street
.The miners strike of 1984 brought about hardship for many of the workers. Two local unsigned bands (The Pigeon Fanciers & Haswell Crisis) recorded and released a single to both raise money for the families and to recognise the contribution made by miners over the years in their locality. Their adapted version of a Bob Dylan classic failed to chart, but the project did make a slight profit as local support from other mining communities ensured that 'Knocking on Hetton's Floor' sold in excess of 1000 copies.
Today, nothing now exists of the mine in Hetton. The former mine complex has disappeared and spoil tips have been removed, although some remain in nearby Haswell. The surrounding area has been landscaped and is now occupied by a lake and leisure facilities. There is also a quarry where sand is mined. This is now undergoing a reformation. A view of this shows that around 15% of the large quarry has been smoothed, and there is now fresh grass in its place which looks more attractive to the eye. However there is still work in progress. The quarry is just a short walk north from the lakes.
The decommissioned St Nicholas' Church on Front Street was destroyed in November 2006. It is unknown if arson was the cause of the fire. It has previously been listed due to its architectural significance.
City of Sunderland
The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
in Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is on the A182
A182 road
The A182 begins on the A194 motorway between Gateshead and Washington. Though it is a non-primary route it takes the form of a fast grade-separated dual carriageway passing through the New town of Washington from the A194, before meeting at a roundabout with the A183 in Shiney Row.During this dual...
between Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring is part of the City of Sunderland in the county of Tyne and Wear, North East England that has its recorded origins in Norman times. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham 7 miles to the south-west and the centre of the City of Sunderland about 6...
and Easington Lane
Easington Lane
Easington Lane is located in North East England between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Village, in the parish of Hetton. It is the southernmost point of the City of Sunderland and Tyne and Wear....
. It is located on the southwest corner of Sunderland on the A182, off A690
A690 road
The A690 is a road in County Durham running from Sunderland in the east through Durham to Crook.-Sunderland section:Throughout the Sunderland section it is known as either Durham Road or New Durham Road, and is one of the major routes in and out of the city. A single carriageway section runs from...
close to the A1(M). It has a population of 14,402 but this includes the population of nearby village Easington Lane.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
manager Bob Paisley
Bob Paisley
Robert "Bob" Paisley OBE was an English football half back turned manager. His association with Liverpool was to span nearly half a century including his contribution to the club, first as a player, then as a physiotherapist and coach, and finally as manager.In nine years as manager between 1974...
and Burnley F.C.
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
player and manager Harry Potts
Harry Potts
Harold "Harry" Potts was an English football player and manager.-Early life:Born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, as was another well-known name in football, Bob Paisley. The duo spent much of their childhood playing various sports, but it was football that Potts loved most...
were from Hetton-le-Hole, as was Ralph Coates
Ralph Coates
Ralph Coates was an English footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a winger. Coates played for Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, making 480 appearances in the Football League. Coates also earned four caps for England between 1970 and 1971.-Club...
the former Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur player. The famous recording artist and record producer Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
is also from Hetton-le-Hole. Former Sunderland and Newcastle
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
goalscorer Bryan "Pop" Robson was born in Hetton-le-Hole.
The civil parish includes Hetton proper, along with East Rainton
East Rainton
East Rainton is a village in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in the north east of England. It is situated alongside the A690 road between Sunderland and Durham, near Houghton-le-Spring. It is home to Rainton Meadows, the nature reserve....
, Middle Rainton
Middle Rainton
Middle Rainton was a small hamlet between West Rainton and East Rainton in the City of Sunderland, north east England. It was subject to a schedule D notice and hence ceased to exist in the 1970s. The site of Middle Rainton is now a Nature Reserve open to the Public. It lies on the A690 road, about...
(but not West Rainton
West Rainton
West Rainton is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated between Durham and Houghton-le-Spring. Leamside is about to the west. The village straddles a ridge parallel to the A690 with extensive views to the west.-History:...
which is a separate parish), Low Moorsley
Low Moorsley
Low Moorsley is a small village just outside Hetton-le-Hole in the City of Sunderland, north east England.It was the birthplace of serial killer, Mary Ann Cotton.-External links:...
, High Moorsley
High Moorsley
High Moorsley is a small village south-west of Hetton-le-Hole in the City of Sunderland, north east England.It is the site of the first weather radar system in the north-east of England, officially opened in July 2009....
and Easington Lane
Easington Lane
Easington Lane is located in North East England between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Village, in the parish of Hetton. It is the southernmost point of the City of Sunderland and Tyne and Wear....
. South Hetton
South Hetton
South Hetton is a former mining village in County Durham, in England. It is situated about six miles to the east of Durham and nine miles to the south of Sunderland.-South Hetton Colliery:...
constitutes a separate parish.
Great Eppleton Wind Farm
Great Eppleton Wind Farm
Great Eppleton Wind Farm is a wind farm near Hetton-le-Hole, England. It is owned and operated by E.ON UK. Constructed in 1997, it was notable for originally consisting of twin-bladed turbines, as most wind turbines have three blades. On 29 September 2009 E.ON announced it would replace these with...
, a wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
of four dual bladed alternators, helped provide electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to the National Grid. The original wind turbines have been replaced by larger three bladed versions. The turbines are far enough away from local houses to not cause any audible disturbance.
History
The history of the Hetton area can be traced back for up to a thousand years. The unusual name of Hetton-le-Hole derives from two Anglo-SaxonOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
words which were spelt together "Heppedune" or Bramble Hill. The name gave rise to a local landowning family, the le Hepdons who owned part of the Manor from the very earliest times. The ancient manor, which was bounded by that of Elemore, was divided into two parts known as Hetton-on-the-Hill and Hetton-in-the-Hole. This second and more sheltered part, was the vicinity in which the village ultimately arose. Records exist of the many holders of the manor right back to the 14th century. William de Hepdon held half the Manor by deed in 1363 and in 1380, William de Dalden held the other half. Even earlier charters go back to 1187 and make mention of the early village of Heppedune, its people, houses, crofts, ox-gangs and strips of land for the villagers in the three great fields around the settlement. In 1187 Bertram de Heppedune held the manor for the King and the other de Hepdons were his descendants.
Coal Mining has been carried on in the surround area since Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times. Coal was then obtained by drift mining
Drift mining
Drift mining is either the mining of a placer deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. Drift is a more general mining term, meaning a near-horizontal passageway in a mine, following the bed or vein of ore. A...
, but by the 14th century shafts were used. In 1819 the Hetton Coal Company was formed and the first shaft sinking began a year later. It was a highly controversial undertaking, with geologists doubtful as to whether coal of any value existed there. The Hetton Coal Company owners also decided to build a wagonway from their new Hetton colliery to the River Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
at Sunderland. George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
was hired to build the 8-mile (13-km). The finished result used a combination of gravity down inclines and locomotives for level and upward stretches, and was the first railway to use no animal power at all. The methods he adopted were still used until 1959 as was some of the original machinery. These activities led to a rapid increase in the size of Hetton and over 200 houses for the miners were built at once. These have all but gone now, but twelve of these former mining cottages from Francis Street in Hetton Centre were re-erected stone by stone at Beamish Open Air Museum, Stanley
Stanley, County Durham
Stanley is a former colliery town and civil parish in County Durham, England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, the town lies south west of Gateshead....
, near Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham, England. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis. The town is located south of Newcastle upon Tyne and west of Sunderland on the River Wear...
.The miners strike of 1984 brought about hardship for many of the workers. Two local unsigned bands (The Pigeon Fanciers & Haswell Crisis) recorded and released a single to both raise money for the families and to recognise the contribution made by miners over the years in their locality. Their adapted version of a Bob Dylan classic failed to chart, but the project did make a slight profit as local support from other mining communities ensured that 'Knocking on Hetton's Floor' sold in excess of 1000 copies.
Today, nothing now exists of the mine in Hetton. The former mine complex has disappeared and spoil tips have been removed, although some remain in nearby Haswell. The surrounding area has been landscaped and is now occupied by a lake and leisure facilities. There is also a quarry where sand is mined. This is now undergoing a reformation. A view of this shows that around 15% of the large quarry has been smoothed, and there is now fresh grass in its place which looks more attractive to the eye. However there is still work in progress. The quarry is just a short walk north from the lakes.
The decommissioned St Nicholas' Church on Front Street was destroyed in November 2006. It is unknown if arson was the cause of the fire. It has previously been listed due to its architectural significance.
Notable people
- Allan BallAllan BallAllan Ball is an English former footballer. Born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, Ball played as a goalkeeper, spending most of his professional career with Scottish club Queen of the South. Ball made 731 first team appearances for Queens, a club record, between 1963 and 1982...
, ex-professional footballer and now Honorary Director of Queen of the South F.C.Queen of the South F.C.Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club founded in 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club currently plays in the Scottish First Division, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers, but usually referred to as Queens or QoS... - Bob PaisleyBob PaisleyRobert "Bob" Paisley OBE was an English football half back turned manager. His association with Liverpool was to span nearly half a century including his contribution to the club, first as a player, then as a physiotherapist and coach, and finally as manager.In nine years as manager between 1974...
, ex Liverpool F.C.Liverpool F.C.Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
manager - Harry PottsHarry PottsHarold "Harry" Potts was an English football player and manager.-Early life:Born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, as was another well-known name in football, Bob Paisley. The duo spent much of their childhood playing various sports, but it was football that Potts loved most...
, former football player and manager - Dorothy Goldsmith (née Harrison), grandmother of The Duchess of Cambridge (née Catherine Middleton)
- John Evans, former Alder Close and photographer/historian